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China's August exports, imports fall less than expected
China's exports fell 8.8 per cent in August year-on-year, while imports contracted 7.3 per cent, customs data showed on Thursday (Sep 7), increasing pressure on the country's vast manufacturing sector as demand sags at home and abroad. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a fall of 9.2 per cent in exports and a drop of 9.0 per cent in imports. The world's second-largest economy risks missing Beijing's annual growth target of about 5 per cent as officials wrestle with a worsening property slump, weak consumer spending and tumbling credit growth, leading analysts to downgrade growth forecasts for the year. Beijing ... (full story)